Matters of opinion that enables me to understand or make some sense of my country- Malaysia

Posts tagged ‘dogs fatwa’

The uploading of a video of a Malay Muslim celebrating Hari Raya in the facebook with his three dogs invites voluminous responses from Malaysians especially Muslims. Most of the Muslims consider the video as insulting Islam. Many regard this video as insulting episode in the Holy month of Ramadan for Muslims. Regrettably, in this Holy month of Ramadan, many use a very offensive and indecent language in the social media, commenting this video.

What is insulting here? It is about the dog. Muslims generally are sensitive to dogs. For majority of Muslims particularly in Malaysia, dogs are impure. Many Muslims try to avoid contacts with dogs. The intention of the person who uploaded the video may be good, to appreciate the similarities between the creation of God and to promote kindness towards animals especially the dog. Unfortunately, the cultural perspective in Malaysia is against this idea.

Many people often adhere to an idea they heard without examining whether it is legally correct. Therefore, it is usual to find people who easily believe in erroneous ideas that may have no basis or evidence. In Islam it is pertinent to understand its teachings and observe them. The primary consideration in dealing with other beings, especially animals is promoting kindness and avoiding cruelty.

Majority of Muslims in Malaysia follow Shafi’i school of law. They may regard dog as impure ornajis, which is in fact washable. At the same time, they must respect other opinions in other school of laws that consider dogs as pure. Islam encourages its believers to learn, understand and adhere to its teaching. Differences of opinion do not permit Muslims to hate each other. It is a time for Muslims in Malaysia to appreciate the differences and diversity.

An act of kindness to the dogs is recorded in one hadith where a man gave a dog water to drink using his shoe as the vessel to contain the water. The hadith praises the man, and Allah forgives his sins as a result of his kind act of providing the dog water.

The Quran in some occasions mentions the dogs. In one of the most popular story of cave sleepers, the Quran also regards a place for a dog as similar to other humans when they were trapped in a cave. The Quran clearly mentions the position of a dog as one of the individuals that comprised in a group, doing what exactly the others are doing.

The verse clearly portrays the dog as important individual in the group and made no negative comment about its presence in the group, who are protected by Allah. The dog did not cause problem or trouble and there was no warning in the verses to keep away from the dog in the verse.

Furthermore, dogs are common in the time of Prophet Muhammad. They were part of daily life of people and shared the same environment.

During the Prophet’s time, the dog would enter mosques and even urinate in them. In one of the hadith, it is reported that the dogs would come and go easily into the mosque, and no one would sprinkle water on those areas of the mosque. It was also reported that a puppy once went under the Prophet’s bed.

The main sensitive issue relating to the dog is the question of purity. The four main school of laws differs on the question of purity of the dog. Some scholars mainly in Shafi’i and Hanbali schools of laws, believe that dogs are impure. Therefore, if a person touches a dog or licked by a dog, he has to wash that portion of the body or clothing before prayer.

The Maliki school of law does not consider dogs impure at all. Hanafi school of law regards the saliva of dogs to be impure. Therefore, only the part of body or clothing that the dog’s saliva touched needs to be washed and purified before prayer.

Majority of Muslims in Malaysia follow Shafi’i school of law. They may regard dog as impure or najis, which is in fact washable. At the same time, they must respect other opinions in other school of laws that consider dogs as pure.

Islam encourages its believers to learn, understand and adhere to its teaching. Differences of opinion do not permit Muslims to hate each other. It is a time for Muslims in Malaysia to appreciate the differences and diversity.

A YouTube video branded “anti-Islamic” because it shows a woman performing an ablution ritual on her pets, has sparked a debate over the status of dogs in Islam.

Malaysian police acted quickly after the video of Maznah Mohd Yusof washing her dogs’ legs surfaced on the Facebook timelines of several Islamic NGOs, with one worker apparently urging them to take “stern, drastic action”. It comes after a sensitive week or two in Kuala Lumpur, during which a couple of “sex bloggers” were in court accused of insulting Muslims by posting a Ramadan greeting alongside a photograph of them eating pork, and reports suggesting vigilantes were monitoring the web to flag up “sensitive posts”. According to independent website Free Malaysia Today, the report about the dog video alleged it was “a grievous insult towards all Muslims in Malaysia”, continuing: “It is not right for the concept of ablution, a method for which Muslims clean themselves, to be equated with washing dogs’ legs.”

The video has been reposted by those who feel it insults Islam

The clip shows Maznah walking near a mosque and then feeding biscuits to the dogs. Reports suggest it could earn her between two and five years in prison. Maznah has since been released on bail, Malaysia’s Starnewspaper says, although the Malaysian Insider website suggests the government has ruled the video to be insulting.

However, on her Facebook page, Maznah points out the video was shot in 2010 and had nothing to do with insulting Islam. She says she loves her religion and was simply reminding people to celebrate Hari Raya – or Eid al-Fitr – with animals as well as humans, reports the Star. It appears the video was reposted by those who found it offensive.

The case sparked debate in the media of this multi-religious country, where the government often defends the Muslim majority from what it sees as malign foreign influence. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was criticised for “jumping the gun” by suggesting that “non-Muslims are insulting our religion”, before Maznah’s identity was known. “She has not even uttered a derogatory word against her religion,” says Stephen Ng in the Malay Mail.

Meanwhile, the notion that “dogs are dirty in Islam” does not stand up to scrutiny, according to some. One comment on the Malaysia Chronicle website acknowledges that “for the majority of Muslims, particularly in Malaysia, dogs are impure”. However, the author adds there are no negative comments about dogs in the Koran and that various schools of Islamic thought differ on their opinions of the animals.

my thots:

Try disliking this bugger below. Look at that face ?

..Do you feel like scolding or give him a BIIIG HUG!

Also one should add, Stop making Muslims hate dogs .. My heart goes out to the species . Man’s best friend. Unwavering loyalty, guide dogs to the blind, life savers to mountai n climbers, guard dogs that protect our security keeping our families safe from harm.cuddly cute pets that brings joy to not only their owners but old folks who find solace in merely petting them, creatures when treated well reciprocates wif love unconditionally, and etc. etc. us humans owe this noble species a debt of gratitude., not scorn and discrimination.

An enlightening read of an Islamic religious teacher in discussion with his disciple on dogs in the modern day Islamic perspective .